theresalwayshope | meet the (grand)parents...

Current Mood: nervous

Entry tags:

meet the (grand)parents...

Allison felt a little like she was going insane.

She started out just planning to invite Aramis and Porthos over to meet Jason. Dinner and drinks, nothing big. Then she realized she didn't just feel obligated to invite Athos, she wanted to. So, if she did that, she obviously had to invite D'artagnan, and she really wanted to meet Constance...and she'd promised Grey a chance to help her bake a cake, so if she did something more than dinner, she could let him come over at some point...

The small family dinner became a small dinner party, and with a few more additions morphed into an impromptu potluck for the whole building...or anyone that wanted to show up. She told the family about it privately, asking Porthos and Aramis to make sure the others at least stopped by (with a subtle warning that Jason would be there), told everyone else she knew in the city, and for the rest of the building she posted a couple of handmade fliers: one in the elevator, and another in the laundry room announcing that, with either a main course or appetizer offering, an invitation to the holiday celebration taking place in apartment #39...dressy casual to formalwear welcome, bring your favorite Christmas CD as a bonus.

And, of course, she told Jason...and told him her family would be there.

By the night of the party, Allison was ready...she just felt a little like she was going insane.

She kept her outfit cute, but simple, and took care of dessert by baking some cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, and a two layer chocolate cake which she invited Grey over to help her bake. With a little careful scheduling, she also managed to contribute to the food on hand with her second ever attempt at beef bourguignon: rich, hearty, and sort of impressive under the right circumstances. By party time, she had her front door standing open, some Trans Siberian Orchestra carols playing on her stereo, and while she didn't yet have a tree, she'd gotten some cute plastic holly garland to hang around the apartment, and for fun had ringed her whole living room ceiling in multicolor Christmas lights for good measure.

The party was good to go. The place smelled good, the food came out okay with more to come...the evening was good to go.

And when Jason showed up, her family would show up...and they'd all meet each other...

While she waited for her guests, loved ones, and boyfriend to start arriving, Allison puttered around in her kitchen, swore to herself she was not hiding, and tried to pretend that she wasn't having visions of someone either drawing a sword or a knife by the end of the evening.

Tonight had to be perfect.

(HOLIDAY GATHERING POST! Treat it thusly. :P Front door's open, come and go as you please, anyone in the Bramford Building is welcome, and if you know Allison even remotely she told you about the party. Gather at will, and leave a call for Allison in your subject line if you want to play with her directly! Open eternally, will probably be linked near the end of the month. :D)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's here in his capacity as Grey's surly boyfriend. The one brought here under duress. At least, that's what Rat will say if asked. All things considered, he's pretty sure it's been a lost cause since Grey bought the Christmas Tree.

How he ended up carrying in a vegetable tray, he's not entirely sure.

Rat's here! All of Grey's face lights up when he sees him. He comes over, his fingers still covered with frosting (don't ask how that happened; he'd been using a spatula).

A kiss, yes? Over the vegetable tray.

Rat gives him a kiss, softening a little and cupping his cheek.

"How did you get covered in frosting?"

He'd made a cake!

Or more accurately, he'd help make a cake. And eaten raw cake batter and lots of the frosting too. He holds up a finger for Rat to taste too. It's good. So very sweet.

Rat pulls Grey's hand to his mouth, cleaning it of frosting and looking him straight in the eye.

"Let's not do more of that or they'll kick us out of the party."

Edited 2014-12-03 08:30 (UTC)

Something flares and tightens in Grey's belly as he looks back. Okay.

But maybe later?

"Later," he says, leaning forward for a brief, chaste kiss. Anything more than that and he'll be dragging Grey into the closest bed.

When he pulls back, Grey follows, chasing that taste. But yes, They will wait.

SO, in the meantime, he pulls his boyfriend over to the table where the chocolate cake stood. There. He made that! With Allison's help.

Rat looks between Grey and the cake, smiling a little. "Your handiwork, is it?"

It is! So, now, Grey can make a cake.

Mostly.

Kind of.

He takes Rat's wrist and guides his finger to swipe through the frosting.

Rat smiles and turns their hands, pressing a hand on Grey's chest. "We'll make our own cake later."

And a lot more frosting.

That sounds like a great plan. Grey turns from the cake to look at Rat. He draws their hands up, kissing Rat's knuckles.

Rat smiles, cupping his cheek affectionately.

"So you're having a good time?"

He is slowly getting used to such gatherings. But Grey is more used to having lots of people around. It's why he likes things being so quiet. But Allison is very cheerful. He shrugs a little. He'll be ready to be alone.

Rat leans over and pulls Grey into his arms, as if he can protect him from any stress.

"There's music. Do you want to dance?"

Dance?

Grey blinks at him before nuzzling his cheek. He doesn't know how to dance.

"Take my hands, I'll show you," Rat says, pulling Grey to the middle of the floor.

It isn't that Grey is self-conscious. He doesn't know that emotion. He keeps his hands in Rat's, his eyes on his boyfriend.

He grins and leads Grey along into something like a waltz. It's not really the right dance for the music, but he doesn't particularly care. He just likes moving close to Grey.

(no subject)

silenttrainbaby - 2014-12-04 17:33 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

plaguedrat - 2014-12-04 17:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

silenttrainbaby - 2014-12-04 17:39 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

plaguedrat - 2014-12-04 18:16 (UTC) - Expand

The slight young man that trudges through her front door with a vegetable tray in hand is greeted with a bright smile as Allison makes her way over the moment she sees a new face. She's trying to be a good hostess, spend time with her family, and spend some non-violent, non-indecent time with Jason...

It's tricky, but she's doing okay so far.

"Hi! Welcome!" she greets him warmly, moving at once to help him with his burden. "Here, let's set this out with the rest of the food..."

She carries the tray over to the table and opens it deftly, nesting the lid underneath before she turns to her new guest and offers her hand.

"I'm Allison, it's nice to meet you...are you here with a guest, or do you live in the building?"

Rat happily gives up the tray, glad to be rid of it. As for the question, he shakes his head, looks toward Grey. He looks like he belongs here, far better than Rat himself.

"I'm his," he says finally, nodding at Grey.

Allison followed Rat's nod, lighting up when she saw who he was gesturing it. She hadn't known Grey had a boyfriend or girlfriend of any sort, and it made her heart clutch pleasantly with the knowledge that he was not only not alone, but that he was in love.

"Ohmigod, that's great!" she beamed, promptly hooking her arm through Rat's to steer him over to the drinks. "Let me get you a drink, we can sit down, and I can pretend to be Grey's big sister and grill you a little. Nicely, I mean, I totally promise not to kill you as long as you don't hurt him."

And though her tone was playful, pleasant...there was something in her eyes that made it clear the last part was absolutely serious.

He knows that glint in her eyes. Rat's seen in in the mirror, in Dogkeeper, even in Shion. Gracefully, he slides his arm out of her grip and fixes her with an actress' smile.

He's withstood fire, bullets, torture, and death. Her filial threats don't scare him.

"I have no intention of being killed," he assures her, voice cold against his pleasant expression. "Or of doing anything to Grey he doesn't want."

Allison allowed him to slide away, fixing him with that same hard look through a smile. She stayed silent a long while, watching his expression and weighing the ice in his tone...

Her expression softened and her smile grew just a little as she nodded.

This time, as she reached out to link her arm through his again, there was genuine warmth in her tone.

"Then the only line I expect you to toe is the family line." she assured him. "I adore Grey, and since you adore him, too, you're part of said family. So I'm still getting you that drink, and I'd still love to talk to you. I mean...how'd you and Grey meet?"

He thinks he understands that possessiveness, that encompassing care and determination. Typically, it's a sentiment he's avoided, putting up hard and angry walls to ensure his own survival. Every time he's with Grey, another crack appears and more can flow out or in.

"I was walking around, so was he. Then he found me again on my birthday." It had been very early in Grey's time here, the stitches fresh in his hand and the cast still new. "Then we kept finding one another."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only